$100 in 1919 is worth $1,347 in 2013,
because prices increased 1246.6% over that period, an average of
2.80% a year.
$100 in 1919 has
the same buying power as
$1,347
in 2013
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
1246.6%
Average inflation rate
2.80% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$1,347
Price difference ($100 base)
$1,247
CPI in 1919
17.3
CPI in 2013
232.957
Inflation in 1919
14.57%
Inflation in 2013
1.46%
$100 in 1919 → 2013
$1,347
$100 in 2013 → 1919
$7.43
What happened to prices between 1919 and 2013
Between 1919 and 2013, the Consumer Price Index went from 17.3 to 232.957.
Cumulatively, prices increased 1246.6%, which works out to an average of
2.80% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1919 bought what
$0.07 buys in 2013: the 1919 dollar
lost 92.6% of its purchasing power over
these 94 years.
The fighting in Europe ended in November 1918, but American prices kept
climbing through 1919 almost as fast as they had during the war itself,
rising 14.6% for the year. Wartime price and production controls were being
dismantled, millions of soldiers were returning to the civilian labor
market, and demand that had been held back for years ran into supply that
had not caught up, a combination that kept the cost of living rising even
with the guns silent. Workers, whose pay had fallen behind three straight
years of double-digit inflation, pushed back: a general strike shut down
Seattle in February, Boston’s police force walked out in September, and a
nationwide steel strike that same month drew in roughly 350,000 workers and
ran into the following January. One price did fall that year: first-class
postage reverted to 2 cents on July 1, ending the wartime 3-cent rate that
had funded part of the war effort since late 1917. By year’s end, prices had
risen close to 75% since the CPI’s 1913 starting point,
compressing more than a decade of typical peacetime inflation into six years
of war and its aftermath.
Every 1919 amount converts to 2013 at the same ratio, 13.47: $1,000 becomes
$13,466, and $10,000 becomes $134,657.
Amount in 1919
Value in 2013
$1.00
$13.47
$5.00
$67.33
$10.00
$135
$20.00
$269
$50.00
$673
$100
$1,347
$500
$6,733
$1,000
$13,466
$5,000
$67,329
$10,000
$134,657
$100,000
$1,346,572
$1,000,000
$13,465,723
Inflation by spending category, 1919–2013
Between 1919 and 2013, food rose the most, up 1174.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 252.0%, against 1246.6% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1919
spending costs in 2013, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1919 →
All items (CPI-U)
2.80%
$1,347
Food
2.74%
$1,274
Apparel
1.35%
$352
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1919: core (all items less food & energy) (1957–), energy (1957–), housing (1967–), medical care (1935–), transportation (1935–), recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1919 to 2013
Prices climbed fastest in the 1910s, averaging 15.61% a year, and fell in the 1920s (1.8% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1919–2013 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1919, at end
1919–1920
15.61%
15.6%
$116
1920–1930
-1.79%
-16.5%
$96.53
1930–1940
-1.75%
-16.2%
$80.92
1940–1950
5.58%
72.1%
$139
1950–1960
2.08%
22.8%
$171
1960–1970
2.74%
31.1%
$224
1970–1980
7.82%
112.4%
$476
1980–1990
4.72%
58.6%
$755
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$995
2000–2010
2.39%
26.6%
$1,260
2010–2013
2.23%
6.8%
$1,347
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1919
$100 from 1919 had already become $179 by
1964, on its way to $1,347 in 2013; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 15.6% in 1920, and prices fell 10.5% in 1921, the deepest deflation of the period.
Long periods are sampled every 5 years; the calculator above covers any pair of years.
The destination year: 2013
In 2013, prices rose 1.5% and $100 from 1919 had the buying
power of $1,347; the year's average CPI of 232.957 is the level
behind every 2013 figure on this page.
2013 was a low-inflation year with a lot of noise around the Federal Reserve.
Consumer prices rose 1.5%, below the Fed’s 2% target, and gasoline eased to an
average of $3.51 a gallon. Housing was the exception: the median new home sold
for about $268,900, up sharply from $245,200 in 2012, as the market recovered
from its post-crisis bottom.
The Fed dominated the news. Chairman Ben Bernanke’s May comments about slowing
bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates up by roughly a percentage
point that summer, and mortgages became more expensive within weeks. In
December the Fed finally announced a first small cut to its purchases while
promising to keep short-term rates near zero for a long time.
Washington added its own disruption. A 16-day government shutdown in October
delayed data releases and left a hole in that month’s CPI collection. Median
household income was reported at $53,585, the federal minimum wage stayed at
$7.25, and a first-class stamp cost 46 cents. The decade’s pattern was taking
shape: slow price growth, ultra-low interest rates, and a labor market that
improved gradually.
MLA: “Inflation from 1919 to 2013: $100 is worth $1,347 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1919-to-2013/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1919 to 2013. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1919-to-2013/